Female Athletes a to z

American athlete Laila Ali, daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, has established her own reputation as a boxing champion and television personality.

Swimmer Amanda Beard competed in four Olympic Games, the first in 1996 when she was just 14 years old. She appeared on the cover of Playboy in 2007.

Susan Butcher was a champion American dog musher and four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Veronica Campbell-Brown is the youngest Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal. At the 2012 Olympic Games, she became a six-time Olympic medalist.

Former pro-tennis player Jennifer Capriati is known for her incredible comeback after several personal struggles. In 1990 she was the youngest player to ever be ranked in the Women's Tennis Association top ten.

Kim Clijsters is a professional tennis player who has won multiple Grand Slam titles, including some at the U.S. Open. She married American basketball player Brian Lynch.

In 2004, athlete Maritza Correia made history as the first African-American woman to earn a place on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. She later became the first African-American woman to break an American record.

In 1997 Erin Crocker became the youngest race car driver to win a feature at Whip City Speedway en route to Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

Diane Crump was a professional jockey who racked up more than 230 victories in her career.

In 1996, Dominique Dawes won Olympic gold with the U.S. women's gymnastics team as well as an individual bronze medal—becoming the first African American to win an individual Olympic medal in women's gymnastics.

American track athlete Gail Devers overcame Graves disease, a thyroid disorder, to win Olympic gold medals in 1992 and 1996.

Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas is best known as the first African American to win the individual all-around event. She also won a team gold medal for the U.S. at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

American swimmer Gertrude Ederle achieved fame when she competed in the 1924 Olympics and became the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926.

Teresa Edwards is an American basketball player best known for winning five Olympic medals in women’s basketball including four gold and one bronze.

British track and field star Jessica Ennis won a gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Italian tennis player Sara Errani has won several honors, including two WTA singles titles and six WTA doubles titles. She lost to Maria Sharapova in the final round of the 2012 French Open.

Boxer Marlen Esparza is the first American female to qualify in her sport at the Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, she won a bronze medal.

Allyson Felix is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she won two gold medals, in the women's 200 and the 4-by-100-meter relay.

Figure skater Peggy Fleming won the only U.S. gold medal in the 1968 Olympics. Later, she publicly battled breast cancer, beating it with radiation therapy.

Paraguayan model and javelin thrower Leryn Franco received wide fame after competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, but not for her athleticism alone—her good looks are equally, if not more, responsible for her mass appeal.

At the 2012 London Olympics, Missy Franklin won gold in both the 100-meter and 200-meter backstrokes, and two more gold medals with the 4-by-200-meter and 4-by-100-meter relay teams.

Sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the first Jamaican woman to win the 100-meter Olympic gold medal in 2008. She won her second straight 100-meter Olympic gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Dallas Friday is a champion professional wakeboarder. She won silver and gold medals at the X-Games and an ESPY Award for Best Female Sport Athlete.

Bernice Gera became the first female umpire of a baseball game in 1972, but later resigned, reportedly because other umpires refused to work with her.

Tennis star Althea Gibson was the first African American to play at Wimbledon. She also broke racial barriers in professional golf.

Ekaterina Gordeeva is a Russian figure skater who, with her late partner and husband Sergei Grinkov, was a two-time Olympian and four-time world champion.

Steffi Graf is an internationally renowned pro tennis player who ranked up scores of championship titles in the 1980s and '90s.

Janet Guthrie was the first female racecar driver to compete in a NASCAR Winston Cup stock car race, the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500.

Dorothy Hamill is a gold medal-winning Olympic figure skater known for her moves on the rink as well as her signature bobbed haircut.

Mia Hamm is a former American soccer player who has scored more international goals than any other player, male or female.

Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater who won three Olympic gold medals. After retiring from skating, she acted in Hollywood films like The Thin Ice.

At 16, Sarah Hughes won the 2002 Olympic women’s figure skating gold medal as the result of a thrilling long program.

Shawn Johnson is an American gymnast who won a gold medal for the balance beam at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China when she was only 16 years old. In 2009, she was the winning contestant on Dancing with the Stars.

Track star Lolo Jones has won both USA and World championships in hurdle events, and is a member of the 2012 Olympic team.

Olympic gold medalist Florence Joyner brought style to track and field with form-fitting bodysuits, six-inch fingernails and amazing speed. She still holds the world records in the 100- and 200-meter events.

One of the greatest athletes of all time, track and field star Jackie Joyner-Kersee has won three Olympic gold medals, as well as one silver and two bronze.

Jennifer Kessy is a beach volleyball player, who, along with teammate April Ross, won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Billie Jean King is best known for her long and successful tennis career.

Anna Kournikova is a Russian professional tennis player, well known for her beauty. At her peak, she was one of the best known players worldwide.

Czech tennis player Petra Kvitová won the 2011 Wimbledon Championship in women's singles event, and is currently ranked No. 4 in the world by the Women's Tennis Association.

Suzanne Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 championship titles between 1914 and 1926. She is largely credited as the first female tennis star.

Lisa Leslie was an All-Star basketball player, Olympic gold medalist and WNBA league MVP.

Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin, better known as Nastia Liukin, is a world-renowned gymnast and Olympian who was named the Olympic individual all-around Champion in 2008.

Professional golfer Nancy Lopez was named Player of the Year four times during her career. She was the first woman to be awarded the Frances Ouimet Award.

Alice Marble was a women's tennis champion, winner of 12 U.S. Open and 5 Wimbledon titles. She also served as U.S spy in Switzerland during WWII.

American gymnast McKayla Maroney won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team and a silver medal for the vault at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Misty May-Treanor is a professional beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She is the longtime competitive partner of Kerri Walsh-Jennings.

American gymnast Dominique Moceanu was a member of the "Magnificent Seven," the U.S. women's gymnastics team that won Olympic gold in 1996.

Tennis player Helen Wills Moody was the first female athlete to become an international star, winning 31 Grand Slam titles during her career.

Alex Morgan was the youngest member of the U.S. women's national team during the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, and won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic women's soccer team in 2012

Shirley Muldowney is recognized as one of the top professional car racers in the world, having earned the moniker "First Lady of Drag Racing."

Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova was one of the world's top tennis players in the 1970s and '80s.

Danica Patrick is a female race car driver and has set several records for women drivers, including becoming the first woman to lead the Indy 500 and the first woman to win the pole position at the Daytona 500.

Annie Smith Peck was a trailblazing scholar, writer and athlete who set records as a mountain climber in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

British athlete Paula Radcliffe is one of the elite runners competing today, having set and broken her own record in the women's marathon.

World-ranked tennis pro Agnieszka Radwanska became the first Polish player in history to receive a WTA tour singles title—at the Nordea Nordic Light Open in Sweden.

American gymnast Aly Raisman won two gold medals and a bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London.

One of the greatest women's beach volleyball players of all-time, Gabrielle Reece is also a successful model, actress, writer and fitness expert.

Mary Lou Retton is a retired champion gymnast who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 1984 Olympics. She was featured on the Wheaties cereal box.

American track star Sanya Richards-Ross won Olympic gold in 2004 and 2008, as part of the U.S. 400-meter relay team, and went on to win gold in the women's 400 meters in 2012.

Cathy Rigby is best known as a medal-winning American gymnast and Tony nominated actress for her theatrical production in Peter Pan.

April Ross is a beach volleyball player who, along with teammate Jennifer Kessy, is a dominant figure on the international circuit. Ross and Kessy took the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

American Kyla Ross has received various national gymnastics awards. In 2012, she helped the U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in London.

In 1960, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games.

Melissa Rycroft is known for her engagement and break-up on the 13th season of The Bachelor, and for winning 2012's Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars.

Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone has won dozens of World Championship and U.S. National Championship medals—competing with such teammates as Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson—and won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

American swimmer Allison Schmitt is best known for her medal-earning performances at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

Monica Seles is a former No. 1-ranked women's tennis player with nine Grand Slam titles. She is also an author and speaker, and competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2008.

Maria Sharapova has won various honors throughout her career, including the 2012 French Open and a silver medal in women's singles at the 2012 Olympics.

Claressa Shields is an American boxer who made her Olympic debut at the Summer Games in London in 2012, and took home an Olympic middleweight gold medal.

Goalkeeper Hope Solo helped the U.S. Women's Soccer Team win gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. She also appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2011.

Toni "Tomboy" Stone made history in 1953 when she joined the Negro Leagues, making her the first woman ever to play professionally in a men's league.

Picabo Street won gold in the Super G women's skiing event at the 1998 Olympics.

Debi Thomas was a figure skater who went on to become the first African-American to win an Olympic medal at the Winter Olympics.

Dara Torres is an American swimmer who has taken home 12 Olympic medals and will seek more at the age of 45 in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

Dana Vollmer is a swimmer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She set the world record for the 100-meter butterfly at the London Olympics in 2012, and won two gold medals there.

Lindsey Vonn is an American alpine skiier who has won numerous competitions, including four World Cup overall titles. She won a gold medal in the downhill event at the 2010 Olympics.

Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a professional beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She is the longtime competitive partner of Misty May-Treanor.

American gymnast Jordyn Wieber is best known as the first U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team member to hail from Michigan.